Cain

When the CIA took Cain's lifeless body from the ground, they intended to create the perfect soldier. Piece by piece, they rebuilt his soulless flesh and transformed it. A team of scientists outfitted him with the most powerful muscles and the deadliest weapons that the generals could ever have wished for. Alive, Cain had been their deadliest killer; dead, he became…
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Overview

When the CIA took Cain's lifeless body from the ground, they intended to create the perfect soldier. Piece by piece, they rebuilt his soulless flesh and transformed it. A team of scientists outfitted him with the most powerful muscles and the deadliest weapons that the generals could ever have wished for. Alive, Cain had been their deadliest killer; dead, he became their greatest nightmare. When Cain awakes, he is transformed: he has become the ultimate predator. His body is now inhabited by a spirit that's been wandering the earth for millennia - one of the crown princes of hell. The only force that can stop him is made up of three tragically flawed mortals - a soldier who's lost his family to a terrorist's bullets, a priest who's lost his faith, and the beautiful young scientist who created this modern Frankenstein. Together, though, they form an unstoppable team who will fight the forces of hell itself to save themselves and humankind.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

This breakneck action thriller by an author who has written three Christian market bestsellers is a world unto itself. Its denizens include Cain, the archetypal murderer and fallen angel who's been transposed into the scientifically strengthened body of a dead CIA killer, and who must drink blood to keep up his strength; Soloman, a hardened former special forces hero determined to kill Cain; Maggie, a plucky CIA scientist who helped create Cain; Amy, Maggie's equally plucky six-year-old daughter whose blood is Cain's planned beverage of choice; an aged priest; an even older nun; a blustery Army general; a sleazy CIA operative; and various warriors on both sides. Much blood is spilled even before a gruesome climax in an English seaside castle during a spectacular thunderstorm. As an added kick, there's the deadly virus in Cain's body that, if released into the air, will kill everyone on Earth. But there's also a lot of dry technical talk about weaponry and too many overheated theological diatribes. Huggins (Leviathan, etc.) gets a few things wrong, describing Santeria as "only a Cuban" religion and making a brigadier general head of the Joint Chiefs. He also uses more than a few portentous clichs ("in many ways the ancients remain wiser than us, despite our science"). Twice, a character takes a "sobering" belt of whiskey. But the action never stops and the book becomes more entertaining as its events become increasingly incredible. Film rights to Bruce Willis. (July)

Library Journal - Library Journal

In this new horror/techno/medical thriller by the author of several Christian fiction best sellers (e.g., Leviathan, LJ 9/1/95), readers are treated to the distinct possibility of evil incarnate taking over the world. The plot is murky at best: a hideous being is running amok, drinking blood and kidnapping an innocent child who holds the key to its survival. The good guys are a tormented priest, a disillusioned soldier, and a beautiful doctor (mother of said innocent child). The baddies are double-dealing government agents who are working for "The Dark Side." The main quibble with Huggins's story is a common one, particularly in Christian fiction. Stephen King can mix and match his monsters, blending characteristics, but most authors simply lack the talent. What is Huggins's evil being? Is it a golem? A vampire? A saber-toothed terminator? Lucifer? Cain, son of Adam and Eve? Or just a big, mean, genetically engineered predator who wasn't too nice in the first place? Whatever he is, the novel is a poor blend of Satanic philosophy, Christian platitudes, and garbled Hebraic mythology. Not recommended. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/15/97.]Lesley C. Keogh, Bethel P.L., Ct.

Kirkus Reviews

Why would Bruce Willis snap this up for a million dollars? Because it feels safely familiar, with a wild hook added by Huggins, author of three action thrillers (Leviathan, etc., not reviewed) for the Christian market.

Army scientist Dr. Maggie Milton (Milton, as in Paradise Lost) has created a Frankenstein supersoldier. She's taken the body of a dead soldier, named Cain, who had highly unusual genes (XYY), altered them, rebuilt him with titanium armor, and primed him with all manner of super devices, including nearly instant self-healing flesh in case of wounds, and fangs for chewing up enemy bodies to replenish his lowered RNA. Unfortunately, to do all of this she's had to inject him with a mutated strain of Marburg virus, the deadliest virus known, which, if released, could wipe out all life on Earth within weeks. What the Army doesn't know is that Satan has in fact entered their supersoldier, endowing him with a galactic hunger for evil and apocalyptic plans of his ownand suddenly he's on the loose, with his super speed and his ability to rip through steel like paper! Who can stop him? Well, polymathic Marine Colonel James L. Soloman might be able to. Retired since the death of his wife and daughter (for which he blames himself), he's kept himself in almost superhuman Spartan condition at his home in Death Valley. Soloman, recruited to cancel out Cain quietly, tries a variety of lethal gambits to stop him, but none of them work. Cain, it turns out, is actually seeking Maggie's daughter Amy, intending to make a human sacrifice of her before unleashing the Marburg virus on mankind. Eventually, Soloman, whose plans go awry, loses the help of the intelligence forces. Cain/Satan survives all the ordnance used against him, rants in biblical fustian, and prepares Amy for his great black mass as time runs out for the human race.